In this blog I present the results of my research into the landowning families of the British Isles and the country houses which they owned. Comments, especially in the form of corrections, additional information or new illustrations, are very welcome. Please use the Contact Form in the right hand side bar to contact me privately or the comments facility at the bottom of the page to make a public comment.

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Thursday, 28 February 2013

(6) Abercromby of Tullibody and Airthrey, Barons Abercromby

Abercromby of Tullibody
coat of arms

Abercromby, Baron Abercromby
coat of arms

Alexander Abercromby, the second son of
Sir Alexander Abercromby of Birkenbog, settled at Tullibody in
Clackmannanshire, which he inherited from his cousin George Abercromby of
Skeith, and also bought Menstrie Castle (Clackmannanshire) in 1719. His son, George Abercromby (1705-1800) purchased the Brucefield (Clackmannanshire) estate in about 1758.

George had two distinguished soldiers among his sons. The elder was Lt-Gen Sir Ralph Abercromby,
who died from wounds received in the Battle of Aboukir in 1801, and whose widow
was created Baroness Abercromby in his honour later the same year. In 1827 the 2nd Baron inherited
Airthrey Castle (Stirlingshire) from his uncle, General Sir Robert Abercromby,
who had acquired it in 1797.[1] It was sold by the his grandson between 1883
and 1905. Tullibody seems to have been
sold by the 4th Baron in 1906, and on the death of his brother in
1924 the title became extinct. Tullibody
House, which consisted of a main block and two wings, was burnt and demolished c.1961.
Airthrey Castle is now the University of Stirling. Menstrie Castle
belongs to the National Trust for Scotland.

Sir Ralph's third son, James
Abercromby, became Speaker of the House of Commons and was created Baron
Dunfermline in 1839, but this title became extinct on the death of his son in
1868. Both Lords Dunfermline lived at
Colinton House in Midlothian, now the home of Merchiston Castle School, which
was built to the designs of Richard Crichton for Sir William Forbes in c.1801.

Tullibody House (Clackmannanshire)

Tullibody House from an old postcard

The
house sat on a magnificent site by the shore of the River Forth. A house was built here in the 1650s by Robert
Meldrum, but was rebuilt about 1710 by Alexander Abercromby (1675-1753), who also
laid out fir plantations and formal gardens around it after 1725. The house had a main block of three storeys
and six bays, with a tall hipped roof, joined by curved one and a half storey
links to two-storey pavilions at right angles to the entrance front. William Stirling carried out unidentified
alterations in c.1803 at a cost of around £2,109. In the 19th century the setting of
the house became industrialised, and it was demolished in 1963 as a result of
railway works and a fire.

Descent: sold 1648 to Robert Meldrum; to
brother, Maj. George Meldrum, who sold 1662 to William Sharp, who sold 1679 to
George Abercromby (d. 1699) of Skein/Skeith (Aberdeens); to cousin, Alexander
Abercromby (1675-1753); to son, George Abercromby (1705-1800); to son, Sir
Ralph Abercromby, kt. (1735-1801); to widow, Mary Anne Abercromby, 1st
Baroness Abercromby (d. 1821); to son, George Abercromby (1770-1843), 2nd
Baron Abercromby; to son, George Ralph Abercromby (1800-52), 3rd
Baron Abercromby; to son, George Ralph Campbell Abercromby (1838-1917), 4th
Baron Abercromby; to brother, John Abercromby (1841-1924), 5th Baron
Abercromby, who apparently sold the house before 1923; Major Hugh Carlisle
Campbell Forrester DL (fl. 1939)

A sturdy, picturesque three-storey L-plan castellated
house with steep roof, crowstepped gables, dormer windows and pepperpot turrets,
probably the remaining part of a full quadrangle, entered through a wide-arched
gateway. The house was burnt by the
Marquess of Montrose during the Civil War, and later in the 17th
century a new laird’s house (Windsor House) – now demolished – was built
opposite. After centuries of neglect and
misuse, it was saved from demolition by a campaign led by the actor Moultrie
Kelsall in 1960-64 and converted into flats, a museum and coffee shop. It is a wealthy manor house rather than a
defensible castle, and is now surrounded by a simple square of housing designed
by W.H. Henry, 1957-60. The castle now
contains a commemoration room to the baronets of Nova Scotia administered by
the NTS, in recognition of the fact that Sir William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, founder of Nova Scotia, was born here.

Descent: Built c.1560 for William Alexander (d. c.1574); to Sir
William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling (c.1576-1640); Robert Murray
of Woodend (Perths), mortgagor foreclosed before 1640; burnt 1645; sold 1649 to
Maj. James Holborne of Menstrie; to son, James Holborne of Menstrie; to son,
Sir James Holburn of Menstrie, 1st bt. (d. 1737), who sold 1719 to
Alexander Abercromby of Tullibody (1675-1753); to son, George Abercromby
(1705-1800); to son, Sir Ralph Abercromby, kt. (1735-1801); to widow, Mary Anne
Abercromby, 1st Baroness Abercromby (d. 1821); to son, George
Abercromby (1770-1843), 2nd Baron Abercromby; to son, George Ralph
Abercromby (1800-52), 3rd Baron Abercromby; to son, George Ralph
Campbell Abercromby (1838-1917), 4th Baron Abercromby; to brother,
John Abercromby (1841-1924), 5th Baron Abercromby; sold 1924 after
his death.

Brucefield (Clackmannanshire)

A plain three storey house in the earliest classical manner
introduced to Scotland by Sir William Bruce, built c.1724 for Alexander Bruce
of Kennet. The central block has a tall
hipped slate roof and prominent chimneystacks and four widely-spaced windows,
and to either side are lower hipped-roofed wings. The two storey south wing was added c.1760
and the three-storey north wing in the early 19th century. The entrance is now through a Doric porch on
the west front, but was formerly at first floor level on the east. The house was restored by James Shearer of
Dunfermline in the 1930s for the 7th Lord Balfour of Burleigh.

Descent: Alexander Bruce (d. 1747); to
son, Robert Bruce (1718-85), Lord Kennet, who sold c.1758 to his father-in-law,
George Abercromby of Tullibody (1705-1800) who leased it to his brother James
(d. 1775) and then to his son, Capt. Burnet Abercromby (d. 1792); to son, Gen.
Sir Robert Abercromby (1740-1827); ??to great-nephew, Robert Bruce (1795-1864)
of Kennet; to son, Sir Alexander Hugh Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of
Burleigh (1849-1921); to son, George John Gordon Bruce, 7th Lord
Balfour of Burleigh (1883-1967); to son, Robert Bruce, 8th Lord
Balfour of Burleigh (b. 1927)

A D-shaped castle-style house,
which however employs mainly Classical forms, designed by Robert Adam in
1790-91 for Robert Haldane (whose brother-in-law, Richard Oswald, had employed
Adam thirty years earlier at Auchencruive).
Haldane dismissed Adam after the plans had been supplied, and redirected
the money for architects’ fees to building in ashlar instead of rubble. Haldane sold the house to Sir Robert
Abercromby in 1798 when it was not quite finished, and went off to be a
missionary in Bengal. The house was
enlarged, the north-facing entrance front rebuilt in a dull, loosely Baronial
style and the interior extensively altered by David Thomson for Donald M.
Graham in 1891. The hall has a lavish
late 19th century interior with panelling and a massive timber
fireplace. The lodges, one of which has
been demolished, were designed by William Stirling for Sir Robert Abercromby in
1809. The park was landscaped by Thomas White c.1798 and by Alexander Nasymth,
c.1802, and now accommodates the main Stirling University
campus: the lake survives, but a late 18th century hermitage on a
clifftop overlooking Airthrey Loch is now only a pile of rubble. The house was used as a maternity hospital
from 1939-69, and an incongruous nurses’ home was built extending east from the
Victorian service court. In 1966 it was
acquired by the University, which has effected considerable refurbishment.

Descent: Robert Haldane; sold 1798 to
Sir Robert Abercromby (1740-1827); to nephew, George Abercromby (1770-1843), 2nd Baron Abercromby; to son, George Ralph Abercromby (1800-52), 3rd Baron Abercromby; to son, George Ralph Campbell Abercromby (1838-1917), 4th Baron Abercromby, who sold 1889 to Donald M. Graham (d. 1901); to widow, Mrs.
Graham and her Trustees; leased as maternity hospital 1939; sold 1946 to
Stirling County Council; transferred 1966 to University of Stirling

A distinguished five bay villa,
built for the Edinburgh banker, Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo in 1801-06. It is built of polished Craigleith ashlar,
with a front of broad, relaxed proportions.
There is a large central porch with coupled Ionic columns, and the wide
segmental fanlight is repeated in each wing beneath a plain attic panel. Forbes bought the estate from the Foulises in
1800 and first consulted John Fraser of Colinton, who suggested the repair and
extension of the existing castle. Plans
by an unknown architect in the castellated manner of Adam were accordingly
produced, but at the same time Thomas Harrison, Richard Crichton, Robert Burn,
John Paterson and others produced plans for a new house. A letter of 1801 confirms that Harrison’s design
formed the basis of what was built, and the bowed rear elevation resembles that
of his Kennet (Clackmannanshire, 1793; dem. 1967), with the addition of a continuous
balcony, suggested by one of Forbes’ many advisers. The final drawings for the front were
executed by Crichton, suggesting he may have amended the original designs. Forbes himself managed everything and
everybody. For the house John Fraser was
the mason, John Young the carpenter, William Scott the plumber, Charles Stewart
the slater, John Baxter the glazier and James Bryce the painter, the work being
measured by Hugh Cairncross. Forbes died
before work was completed and the house was finished by his son. It was sold after the latter’s death to James
Abercromby, Speaker of the House of Commons, who commissioned W.H. Playfair to
make alterations to the interior in 1840-41; these included remodelling the
staircase. The house has been part of
Merchiston Castle school since 1929, and was adapted as its science laboratory
by W.J. Walker Todd, with a Venetian-windowed addition to the west. The interior has fared badly. The entrance hall and Ionic pilastered
corridor survive, both groin-vaulted.
The staircase is a simple dog-leg, but its network balustrade has been
damaged. The house sits in parkland
created by Forbes, who in 1801 obtained a plan from Matthew Stobie and
recommendations from William Alexander, but who attributed the result to his
own gardener, James Rintoul.

Previous owners: sold 1800 to Sir William Forbes
(1739-1806), 6th bt. of
Pitsligo; to son, Sir William Forbes (1773-1828), 7th bt. of
Pitsligo; sold after his death to James Abercromby (1776-1858), 1st Baron Dunfermline; to son, Ralph Abercromby (1803-68), 2nd Baron
Dunfermline; to daughter, Mary Catherine Elizabeth Abercromby (d. 1908), wife of
Lt-Col. John Moubray Trotter (1842-1924); sold after his death to Merchistoun Castle School.

The Abercrombys of Tullibody and Airthrey, Barons Abercromby

Abercromby, Alexander (1675-1753)
of
Tullibody (Clackmannans), advocate and MP.
Born in 1675, the second son of Sir Alexander Abercromby (1608-84), 1st bt. and his third wife, Elizabeth, dau of Sir James Baird of Auchmeddan. MP for Clackmannanshire 1703-07. He married Mary, dau of Alexander Duff of
Braco and had issue:

(4)
James Abercromby (1707-75) of Brucefield; educated at Westminster,
University of Leiden, Lincolns Inn (called to bar, 1738); attorney general of
South Carolina, 1731-44; member of South Carolina Assembly, 1739-45; agent in
London for North Carolina and Virginia, 1745-71; MP for Clackmannanshire
1761-68; deputy auditor-general of plantations 1757-65. Lived on his
brother George’s Brucefield estate (Clackmannanshire), 1757-75, and owned substantial
property (nearly 7,000 acres) in South Carolina.

He inherited the
Tullibody estate in Clackmannanshire from his cousin, George Abercromby of
Skeith, in 1698. He also purchased
Menstrie Castle (Clackmannans) in 1719.

He
died in 1753.

Abercromby,
George (1705-1800) of
Tullibody House, advocate. Elder son of
Alexander Abercromby of Tullibody (1675-1753) (q.v.) and his wife Mary, dau of Alexander Duff of Braco. He married Mary, dau of Ralph Dundas of
Manour (Perths) and had issue:

(3) General Sir Robert Abercromby (1740-1827),
a General in the Army; commander-in-chief in
India, 1793; Governor of Edinburgh Castle; MP for Clackmannanshire 1798-1802.He purchased Airthrey Castle in 1798 before it was
fully completed and was responsible for landscaping the park and building the
lodges. He died unmarried and the estate passed
to his nephew, George Abercromby (1770-1843), 2nd Baron Abercromby

He
inherited from his father the Tullibody House and Menstrie Castle estates, and
c.1758 purchased Brucefield (Clackmannanshire).

He
died 8 June 1800, aged about 95.

Maj-Gen. Sir Ralph Abercromby

Abercromby,
Maj-Gen. Sir Ralph (1735-1801), kt. He was
born 25 October 1735, the eldest son of George Abercromby (1705-1800) of
Tullibody and his wife Mary, dau of Ralph Dundas of Manour (Perths). He entered the army in 1756 and was appointed
Col. of the 103rd Foot in 1781 and Major-General in 1787. In August 1795 he was Commander-in-Chief of
British forces in the West Indies; in 1798 he was given command of forces in
Ireland, and shortly afterwards of those in Scotland, with the governorships of
Fort Augustus and Fort George. Early in
1801 he had command of British forces in Egypt and at the famous second battle of
Aboukir he received a wound of which he died shortly afterwards. He was appointed a Knight of the Bath in 1797
and was a member of the Privy Council.
He married 17 November 1767, Mary Anne (1747-1821), second dau and co-heir of John Menzies of Ferntower, Crieff
(Perths), who when an account of the triumph and death of her husband reached
England, was created Baroness Abercromby in his memory, and awarded a pension
of £2,000 a year for herself and the next three inheritors of the title. They had issue:

(6) Lt-Col. Alexander Abercromby (1784-1853),
served in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo; MP for Clackmannanshire 1817; d.
unm. “at his country seat in Clackmannanshire”, 27 August 1853

(7) Mary Abercromby (d. 1825)

He
inherited his father’s estates in 1800 but was killed shortly afterwards. It is not clear what property if any he
inherited from his wife’s father.

He
died 28 March 1801, and was buried in the burial ground of the Commandery of
the Grand Master under the walls of the castle of St. Elmo at Valetta
(Malta). He is commemorated by a
monument in St. Paul’s Cathedral ordered by the House of Commons.

He
inherited Tullibody House from his mother in 1821 and Airthrey Castle from his
uncle, Sir Robert Abercromby (1740-1827) (q.v.) in 1827.

He
died at Airthrey Castle 14 February 1843 and was buried at Tullibody. He was succeeded in his title and estates by
his son.

Abercromby,
Col. George Ralph (1800-52), 3rd Baron Abercromby. Born 30 May 1800, only son of George
Abercromby (1770-1843), 2nd Baron Abercromby, and his wife Montague
(1772-1837), dau of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville. MP for Clackmannan & Kinross, 1824-31,
Stirlingshire 1838-41 and Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire 1841-52; Lord
Lieutenant and Sheriff-Principal of Clackmannanshire 1840-52. Served in the Army (Major 1826;
Colonel). He married 3 April 1832,
Louisa Penuel (c.1810-82), dau of John Hay Forbes, Lord Medwyn, and had issue:

He
inherited Tullibody House and Airthrey Castle from his father in 1843.

He
died at Airthrey Castle, 25 June 1852 and was buried at Tullibody.

Abercromby,
George Ralph Campbell (1838-1917), 4th Baron Abercromby. Born 23 September 1838, eldest son of Col.
George Ralph Abercromby (1800-52), 3rd Baron Abercromby and his wife
Louisa Penuel (d. 1882), dau of John Hay Forbes, Lord Medwyn. He was a JP for Stirlingshire and
Clackmannanshire and DL for Stirlingshire.
He married 6 October 1858, Lady Julia Janet Georgiana Duncan (d. 1915),
a lady of the bedchamber to Queen Victoria, dau of Adam, 2nd Earl of
Camperdown, but had no issue.

He
inherited Airthrey Castle and Tullibody House from his father in 1852, but sold
the former between 1882 and 1905. He
lived at Tullibody House.

He
died in London, 30 October 1917, when his title passed to his younger brother,
John Abercromby (1841-1924), 5th Baron Abercromby (q.v.).

Abercromby,
John (1841-1924), 5th Baron Abercromby, antiquarian. Born 15 January 1841, second son of Col.
George Ralph Abercromby (1800-52), 3rd Baron Abercromby and his wife
Louisa Penuel (d. 1882), dau of John Hay Forbes, Lord Medwyn. Lt, Rifle Brigade. President of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland; Hon LL.D, Edinburgh Univ. He
succeeded his brother as 5th Baron Abercromby, 30 October 1917. He married 26 August 1876 (div. 1879) his
cousin, Adele Wilhelmine Marika, dau of Chevalier Charles von Heidenstam,
Swedish Minister at the Court of Athens and had issue:

(1) Edla Louisa Montagu (b. 1877), m. 1906
Georges N. Nasos, director of the conservatory of music at Athens and officer
of the Order of the Saviour, Greece.

He
apparently sold Tullibody House and lived at 62 Palmerston Rd, Edinburgh in
1923.

He
died 7 October 1924, when the barony of Abercromby became extinct.

The Abercrombys of Colinton, Barons Dunfermline

Abercromby,
James (1776-1858), 1st Baron Dunfermline. Born 7 November 1776, third son of Maj-Gen.
Sir Ralph Abercromby (1735-1801) and his wife Mary Anne (1747-1821), 1st
Baroness Abercromby, dau of John Menzies of Ferntower, Crieff (Perths). Called to the bar in 1800; commissioner of
bankruptcy; appointed judge-avocate-general in 1827 and chief baron of
Scotland, 1830; master of the mint and a member of the cabinet, 1834; speaker
of the House of Commons 1835-39; created Baron Dunfermline of Dunfermline
(Fife) 7 June 1839. He married 14 June
1802, Marianne (d. 1874), dau of Egerton Leigh of West Hall, High Legh
(Cheshire) and had issue:

(1) Ralph Abercromby (1803-68), 2nd Baron Dunfermline (q.v.)

He purchased
Colinton House (Midlothian) after 1828 and in 1840-41 commissioned W.H.
Playfair to remodel the interior.

He
died 17 April 1858.

Abercromby,
Ralph (1803-68), 2nd Baron Dunfermline. Born 6 April 1803, only child of James
Abercromby (1776-1858), 1st Baron Dunfermline and his wife Marianne,
dau of Egerton Leigh of West Hall, High Legh (Cheshire). An eminent diplomat. He married 18 September 1838 Mary Elizabeth
(d. 1874), eldest dau of Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound (1782-1859), 2nd
Earl of Minto and had issue:

Where are their papers?

Abercromby family of Tullibody, Barons Abercromby: household and estate papers, National
Archives of Scotland,GD124/17/656-674; Abercromby family of Colinton, Barons Dunfermline: personal papers, National Library of Scotland MSS 24725-24774

[1] The General also
acquired Powis House in 1800 but sold it again in 1806 [see future post on ALEXANDER of Powis
House and Westerton House]

Revision and Acknowledgements

This account was first published on 28 February 2013 and was updated 3 June 2015 and 22 September 2017.

About Me

I was educated at St Paul's School in London and Keble College, Oxford and went on to train as an archivist in the world-famous Bodleian Library. I spent 37 years as a professional archivist, and was Chairman of the National Council on Archives from 2001 to 2005, and Head of Archives Sector Development and Secretary of the Historical Manuscripts Commission at the National Archives from 2005 until I retired in May 2015.

Alongside my professional career I have also been an architectural historian of the country house. This is a passion nurtured at Oxford, where I was President of the University Architectural Society. Between 1989 and 2001 my three volume study of The country houses of Gloucestershire was published, and my distinctive contribution has been to put together the evidence for the history of country houses and landed estates that can be gleaned from family archives and genealogy with the evidence from the buildings themselves, to tell a richer narrative than any of these sources alone can provide. I am now embarked on an ambitious blog (http://landedfamilies.blogspot.co.uk), which aims to tell the story of every landed family in the British Isles and their country houses. If I continue working hard until I am a centenarian I might finish the job!

Since one big project is never enough, I am also involved as a Trustee and volunteer with the Victoria County History of England, which aims to tell the story of every English village and town, and I do some advisory work for the National Trust, which looks after so many of the country houses I care passionately about.

I have been married for 37 years to my precious and special wife Mary, who mercifully tolerates my obsessions and collections, and even my cooking.